“It was one thing at home, now at work?” You chugged the drink in your glass before handing the last bit to Hyungwon, who sat next to you on the couch. “He looks like an .” Muttered Jooheon, who sat next to your feet on the floor.

“He’s so nice to Liza, so I don’t get why he’s such a douche to everyone else.” Hyungwon said, finishing the drink in one sip. “I give them another month.” Minhyuk said from across the room, scrolling through the tv to find a movie to watch.

“Please, she’s so in love with him that she’d sell her soul before she’d let him leave.” Hyungwon shook his head.

In the middle of your rant session, the noises began. First came the loud moans, then the even louder music that was used to cover them up. You stood up quickly, grabbing a pillow and taking it with you. Hyungwon tugged on your hand, bringing you back to the couch. “Don’t go in the with a pillow.”

He outstretched his hand to the other side of the couch and grabbed the other throw pillow. “At least use two pillows, it’ll make a grander point.” You laughed and took the other pillow. Minhyuk ran over to take them away, glaring at you. “You’re not that mean, Y/N, just ignore them.”

An hour later, with the tv on full volume, the sounds of their fun could still be heard, even over the tv and music. Minhyuk grabbed the pillow and shot up, rushing to Liza and Kihyun’s room. “You’re not that mean, Y/N.” You imitated his voice, waiting for him to come back from his raid on the couple.

Minhyuk ran back into the living room, drenched from his head to his shoulders. “He poured wine on me.” He grumbled, entering his room to get a new shirt. When he came back out, more angry than you had ever seen him before. He took a deep breath to calm himself down. Hyungwon got up and pulled Minhyuk over to the couch and kept him there so he wouldn’t go and attack Kihyun.

You groaned, throwing your head back in frustration. You hated Yoo Kihyun more than anything.

---

On one of the rare chances you got to spend away from work and the university, you spent it in the music studio a few blocks away from your apartment. You tapped your fingers restlessly against the ivory keys. You sighed in frustration, banging a single finger against the E flat key. The song you were working one was not coming to you.

“Your song would be better if you weren’t so hateful towards the piano,” You heard a snipish voice call from the other side of the room. You didn’t look back, knowing the owner of the voice all too well. “Get out of my practice room, Kihyun.” You snapped, waiting for him to leave you alone for once.

You heard his footsteps walk closer to you and your piano. You looked up to him and glared. “I told you to get out.” You said one more time, not in the mood to mess around with his nonsense.

Kihyun shook his head and sat next to you. “I can’t just leave when I hear music being played this awfully.” He muttered, pushing you to the side of the piano bench and taking the reins on the instrument.

You stared at him, astounded by his rudeness. “Are you kidding me?”

Kihyun shook his head and started pressing down the keys. “Sing along if you want, but the way you were playing, you were going to ruin any song you tried to play.” He said all of this so casually, without any hesitation in his voice.

You wanted to snap at him, call him out for being as rude as he was. Yet, you couldn’t find the right words to say. Kihyun began the song. It was a song that you had heard a hundred times before, one that you had even performed in high school. You itched to sing the song, but you didn’t want to give him that sweet satisfaction.

Eventually you said to hell with that and joined in.

Kihyun laughed breathlessly and continued on. After a few more bars, he started singing with you. His voice was lower than yours, giving a stark contrast to your own.

He was the biggest douche you had ever met, but you had to admit that his voice was that of an angel’s. It fit perfectly to the notes of the song, something way too beautiful to fit his personality.

Just when you thought you were enjoying the duet, Kihyun stopped playing all together. He stood up and looked to you blankly. “You’re singing flatly. It’s hurting my ear, I’m going to go heal them.” He said coldly, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets and walking away.

You rolled your eyes, glaring at the back of his head. That was the final straw, you weren’t going to put up with his bull any longer. “If you don’t stop treating Minhyuk and I like garbage, I’m going to kick you out of the apartment.”

He stopped walking and looked back to you instantly. His sly grin made your blood boil. “Good luck trying to do that with Liza around. She would have a fit if you kicked her boyfriend out of the apartment.”

You quickly made your way towards him, pointing your finger into his chest. You pushed your finger into his skin roughly, trying to make a point. “I don’t care about that. If you want to live in my apartment, you’re going to start showing us a little respect.” You snapped at him.

He rolled his eyes at you and started to walk away again.

He had some nerve. You grabbed his arm and pulled him back to you. You didn’t know what you were thinking but there was something satisfying about hearing the crack of your hand hitting his face.

Kihyun stumbled back a bit and clutched his face. “What the hell?” he yelled. His eyes shot daggers at you and you could tell that he was furious. You smiled at him and held up the hand that slapped him. “Liza may not know about how nasty your personality is yet, but keep up with the act, and she’ll know sooner than you can handle.” You winked to him, “I’m not someone you can mess around with, Kihyun. I hope you know that.”

You looked away and went back to the piano. You were not going to let him treat you like anymore.

---

The days after that were awkward. He avoided you like the plague and his comments seemed to die down into almost nothing. When Minhyuk started to notice the difference in your roommate’s behavior, he came to your first.  

“What the hell did you do to him that made him this quiet?” He asked you one day in the kitchen. You grinned and poured out your coffee. “I might have yelled at him and slapped him.” You said quietly, but Minhyuk heard every word.

“You slapped him? That’ll do it.” He laughed, “He’s probably afraid of you now.”

“I doubt it, he just probably didn’t think either of us would stand up to him.” You said. You poured another mug of coffee and pushed it towards Minhyuk. You were about to continue on with the conversation but Kihyun walked through the kitchen doors.

He made brief eye contact with you and Minhyuk before looking away. He grabbed his own mug and poured it for himself. The room was thick with silence and it wasn’t broken until Kihyun cleared his throat to speak. “I-uh- suppose I’m sorry for the way I treated the two of you for a few weeks.” He paused and looked to the two of you, seriously this time. “I’m bad with people. I’m also told that I have a severe ego-”

“You can say that again.” Minhyuk mumbled. You nudged him in the ribs and let Kihyun continue.

Kihyun took a deep breath and prevented himself from saying something mean to Minhyuk. “As I was saying… I’m not the nicest to people when I first meet them. And I apologize for that now.” He stuck out his hand for one of you to take. “So what do we say? Call it a truce and become friends?”

You looked up to Minhyuk to see what his reaction might be. Minhyuk cocked an eyebrow but nodded his head. “I suppose that we could do that.” He said as he took Kihyun’s hand.

You thought about it for the moment. Was he truly genuine in his apology or was he just saying this to not get kicked out. You looked into his eyes and saw the softness in them. You sighed and took his hand. “Act up again and we’ll kick you out, Liza or no.” You told him.

He nodded and let out a long breath of relief. “Now that we’re on good terms, would you like to go to the studio with me, Y/N?” He asked, almost kindly.

You shrugged your shoulders “I don’t know, are you going to insult my singing again?” You questioned. He shook his head, embarrassed by what he said to you a few days prior. “No, no I won’t.”

You grinned, “Then sure.”

---

This time you felt more comfortable with Kihyun by your side. Every once and awhile he would stop the music and instruct you on how to control your voice a little more. In a way, he was being strangely kind.

He was a dancer as well, which he proudly showed you in the middle of the practice room. To him, performing was more than a passion, it was his life. He had so much talent that it amazed you. You also wondered why he hadn’t gotten the chance to start performing on stages quite yet. He only gave you a short answer. “Because I’m not ready yet.” He told you every time you asked. You supposed that it was a valid answer, but he was more than ready to start capturing an audience.

In the middle of the practice, he stopped dancing and he lied down on the floor, breathing heavily. “I don’t want you to forgive me yet.” He said through  labored breaths. You looked at him strangely and sat down on the ground next to him.

“You made me realize what I had been doing. I know I’ve deserved it before, but no one has ever slapped me. When someone hits you because you’ve been an , it’s kind of a wake up call.” He admitted, staring up at the ceiling.

You laughed and nodded along, “Yeah, you really did deserve it. What made you target Minhyuk and I? You acted like a perfect gentleman towards Liza but no one else.” You were afraid that maybe this question went a little farther than he wished.

Kihyun propped himself on the ground so he could face you. “My dad is a big CEO of a business firm in Seoul. My mother is a fashion designer. I’ve had a very comfortable, luxurious life. That doesn’t help my ego complex at all.” He joked before going back into his story. “When my father found out that I was majoring in the arts, he cut me off completely. He said that if I was going to pursue a career in music instead of law or medicine, I was no son of his. So I got by, I worked at a French restaurant for a while to pay for student bills. I had a lot saved up from when my parents were paying for everything but I didn’t want to dig into that yet. So I got an apartment with one of my friends. He moved back home and I was short on rent. You know the rest of the story.”

You looked at him, feeling a little bit bad about his familial situation. “Your father sounds like an .” You whispered to him.

Kihyun nodded and smiled, “He is, no doubt. Before I moved in, I was also having a few problems with Liza. To keep her from leaving, I dipped into my savings and started spoiling her. It’s stupid, I know, but I didn’t really want to lose her. She’s my first serious girlfriend and I didn’t want to see her go so soon.”

You laughed, really loudly. You didn’t want to seem insensitive or harsh, but it just kind of came out. “So you were an to us because your father had just disowned you and you were on the verge of having your girlfriend, my best friend, leave you. So you took it out on two people you didn’t even know.”

Kihyun pressed his hand to his face, shielding it from you in embarrassment. “If you put it like that then I sound horribly petty.” He groaned out. He fell back to his position on the floor and knocked his head softly into the wood. 
“You kind of were petty. But I’m willing to overlook it just for now.” You paused thinking about something else he said. “If you and Liza truly love each other, then she won’t rely on the gifts you give her.”

You knew that was stretching the truth though. Liza had a long track record with men. She targeted the attractive, wealthy, charismatic ones. You loved your best friend but she was a little bit of a gold digger when she wanted to be. The way Liza looked at Kihyun was proof enough for you though, he was the real deal in her eyes.

“I suppose,” he checked the time on his phone and got up from the ground. “We should probably get home before it gets too late.” You nodded in agreement and grabbed your things.

---

It was a cold February day and you spent it on the couch, a box of tissues and a bag of cough drops by your side. You had gone into work earlier today, but you were sent home thirty minutes into your shift because of the very obvious sickness you had.

So here you were, enjoying your very rare amount of alone time in the apartment. You caught the last part of a movie on t.v. and you were about to put in your own movie but you got a text message that distracted you from doing so.

You looked at your phone and saw the message from Kihyun light up your screen.

Kihyun: Yo, I just got out of class. I’m going to the store, want me to pick you up something to eat/drink?

You hated him. You constantly reminded yourself.

You: Tea or soup. My throat is killing me. Thank you!

You sent back quickly. You hated him.

Kihyun: Alright I’ll be home soon

“It was a flutter of a crush” You had to remind yourself. He and Liza were so annoyingly in love that it had to be a passing by, but as the days wore on, you couldn’t see it as a flutter.

Kihyun came home and set a large paper bag down on the table in front of you. He slowly started taking things out one by one. “I texted Liza and asked her what your favorite tea flavor was.” He gestured to the cup of hot tea and gave it to you. “Raspberry from that weird hippie place down the street.” He made a face towards the tea and continued pulling things out.

He placed the bowl of soup in front of you, another thing he bought. He also took out a couple bags of chocolates from the bottom. He handed you your own bag. “That’s for you” He lifted up his right hand “This one is for Liza and I, she’s been complaining about going on a diet so I figured we could share one bag.” And he lifted up his left hand “And this one’s for Minhyuk. I forgot, does he like chocolate?”

You nod, taking in the kindness he was showing. “Thank you.” You grinned. You outstretched your arm and coughed into your sleeve. Kihyun looked down at you, a little worried. The two of you had grown closer in the past few weeks than you had ever expected. You and him had more in common than you had Liza did, but you would never let Liza in on that little piece of information.

Though, as your friendship grew, so did your feelings.

Despite getting off on a rocky start, you grew to become excited every time you saw him in class or worked with him in the studio. It was ridiculous to think you think you had a crush on your best friend’s boyfriend, but you couldn’t control how you felt.

Kihyun sat down on the couch next to you. He picked up the tissues and handed them to you. “I have some important news,” He said excitedly, turning to face you completely. You raised your eyebrows, waiting to hear his terrific news.

“My father is finally supporting me again. I sent him videos of my progress and our practice sessions. He’s thoroughly impressed and he reconsidered my choice to study music!” His eyes lit up happily, something you had not seen before.

You smiled and launched yourself towards him, hugging him tightly. “That’s wonderful! I’m happy for you.” You peered at him, even though you didn’t let go of his body. He wrapped his own arms around you, his smile faltered as you lied on top him on the couch.

“Yeah…” He trailed off, his eyes floating down to your lips. He his own lips but didn’t move any further from there. You wanted to lean in, so badly that it hurt but you knew what it would mean if you did so.

Before you made the decision, you quickly got off of Kihyun and coughed into your arm. Kihyun sighed and draped his arm around your waist, easing you off the couch and leading you towards your bedroom. In his other hand he held the tissues. He helped you sit down on your bed and tucked you under the covers (Even if you really didn’t need help). He set the tissues next to you and rubbed the top of your head.

“Go to sleep, I’ll text Minhyuk and tell him to warm up that soup for you when you wake up. I have to get to get ready for work, so, um, sleep well.” He said the last part awkwardly but you found it a little adorable.

You closed your eyes, hoping the images of Kihyun would leave. But they didn’t

A flutter of a crush? You couldn’t have been more wrong.